It's My 2nd Blogiversary!

Wow! Is it really my 2nd blogiversary already? Time has flown since I started this blog two years ago.

First of all, I want to thank all of you, my wonderful readers, for taking the time to read my blog posts.

Writing a blog isn't always easy and it does take time and effort. But the benefits far outweigh the costs.

BENEFITS AND BLESSINGS OF BLOGGING

The thought that someday my future grandchildren may read about their ancestors on my blog is exciting. It makes all of the time and effort I put into writing my blog worth it. I hope that my blog will bless the lives of my descendants.

One of the benefits of writing my blog is that I've come to learn about my ancestors as I write about them. They were real people with real lives. They were much like you and me. They had their likes and dislikes. They loved and were loved. They endured hardships and had trials of their own. It's an honor, a blessing, and a privilege to write about them. Each of our ancestors deserves to be remembered.

Cousin Connections and Vintage Postcards

Another blessing of writing my blog and having my family tree online is that I've made cousin connections.

A 2nd cousin on my dad's side recently found me on WikiTree.com and contacted me by leaving a message on my blog's Facebook page. I'm now part of his family history group on Facebook, which is awesome!

Another cousin, this time on my mom's side, found my blog and then left a message on my blog's Facebook page.

Another possible cousin contacted me by leaving a message on my blog's Facebook page. We've sent messages to each other several times. It looks promising that she is a descendant of my 2nd great-grandfather's brother, Ole Iverson, who was from Norway.

And just last night I had a new cousin connection. I received an email message through WikiTree's private message system. This new cousin found her grandmother's memorial page on Find A Grave, which I am maintaining. I sent her an email and am now awaiting her response.

And, of course, I can't forget the exciting Engle Family Postcard Adventure that started on November 11, 2013. A very kind woman named Ann, who lives in Ireland, came across some vintage postcards that were sent to my 2nd great-grandaunt, Sarah Amanda (Waterman) Engle. Ann purchased the postcards, found me connected to this family by doing an online search, and left a private message via WikiTree's message system. Because of Ann, I'm now in possession of over 50 of these amazing vintage postcards from the Engle family. And I'm in the process of sharing them here on my blog. If you would like to read more of this story, click HERE.

In addition to cousins finding me through WikiTree, my blog, and Find A Grave, I've also had cousins contact me because my family tree is on Ancestry.com. I have found that it's been very beneficial to have my family tree online.

STATISTICS

Statistics can be quite interesting. Last year on my 1st blogiversary I shared some of my blog stats. I thought I'd do so again today.

Referring Sites

These are the top ten referring sites to my blog according to Google Analytics.



These stats are from April 5, 2013 until April 4, 2014. Of special interest to me is number four – Pinterest. That really has been a surprisingly big referrer to my blog. Also, thank you Randy Seaver, author of Genea-Musings, John D. Tew, author of Filiopietismprism, and Cyndi's List for referring traffic to my blog as well!

These are the top ten referring sites according to Blogger.




Unfortunately, Blogger doesn't have the capability to limit these statistics within certain dates like Google Analytics does. So, these stats refer to the entire time I've had my blog. Pinterest is at number ten in this list.

Most Popular Posts

And now for my most popular blog posts.

According to Blogger's statistics, these are my top ten blog posts of all time -

1. Tech Tuesday: Rootsmapper.com ~ Ya, this is pretty cool!
2. Tech Tuesday - OneNote For Genealogy ~ Research Bookmarks
3. My Family Finder DNA Results Are In ~ Grandma Was Right!
4. Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for September 13, 2013
5. Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for September 20, 2013
6. Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for September 6, 2013
7. Follow Friday–Fab Finds for December 28, 2012
8. 52 Ancestors: #4 ~ The Photo Album of a Civil War Veteran – Ebenezer Perry Carlisle Webster
9. Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for August 2, 2013
10. Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for November 1, 2013

My top ten list of all time is quite different according to Google Feedburner.

1. Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for June 7, 2013
2. Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for May 31, 2013
3. Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for June 21, 2013
4. "Left Forefinger Off"
5. The Other Watson E. Webster
6. Carl Albert Gillberg's Two Declarations of Intention
7. Follow Friday–Fab Finds for March 22, 2013
8. Happy Father's Day
9. Thanks for Traveling Frederick! – A September 1913 Passenger List
10. Will You Be Watching?

Again, thank you to my family members, friends, fellow geneabloggers and everyone else who has taken the time to read my blog posts. And thank you for leaving comments, sharing my blog posts on Twitter, Google+, Facebook, Pinterest, RebelMouse, and on any other social media platform. I appreciate it very much!

Thanks for reading!

Jana

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